The commander of the search committee for the missing persons: the Qataris promised that the second expert team will go to investigate the situation of the Iranian pilots / the dispatch of the second expert team means that the first team has reached some facts in its investigations / the statements and claims of the Qatari authorities of the first expert team did not convince us / the expert head of the first expedition group has investigated at least a hundred air accidents so far and noticed their unacceptable statements

Sardar Bagherzadeh, commander of the search committee for the missing persons of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, said: Regarding the latest status of Iranian pilots and the determination of their health status, I must say that following the recent visit of the Minister of Interior to Qatar and the discussions that took place during this trip, the issue is being pursued in several ways.

He added: "They promised that the second expert team would go. The dispatch of the second expert team means that the first team has reached some facts in their investigations and the statements and claims of the Qatari authorities, at least for our expert team, were not reassuring and did not convince them."

Sardar Bagherzadeh stated: The team leader, who is a pilot and the expert head of the 1st expedition group, has investigated at least a hundred air accidents so far and noticed their unacceptable statements, that is, the claims they made were not acceptable and he reported to our responsible authorities, there are reasons that I do not want to explain now. So they accepted the second team again that the team should go.

He added: I was also personally following up on the issue in the Red Cross area, and in the meeting I had with the Red Cross official in Tehran, he agreed to pursue the issue more seriously. Also, we emphasized the seriousness of this issue and the necessity of determining its task, and he also accepted this issue. The officials of the Red Cross are following up on the issue through the office of this organization in Qatar and also through Geneva. We have conveyed our information and expert findings to the Qatari side and told them that this matter is not hidden from the Islamic Republic of Iran.